consent

English

Etymology

Recorded in Middle English since circa 1225, borrowed from Old French consentir, from Latin cōnsentīre, present active infinitive of cōnsentiō (“to feel together”), itself from com- (“with”) + sentiō (“to feel”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kənˈsɛnt/
• Rhymes: -ɛnt
• Hyphenation: con‧sent

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Verb

consent (third-person singular simple present consents, present participle consenting, simple past and past participle consented) (intransitive)

1. To express willingness, to give permission.

   After reflecting a little bit, I've decided to consent.

   • c. 1591–1595, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act V, scene i]:

     My poverty, but not my will, consents.

2. (medicine) To cause to sign a consent form.
   • 2002, T Usmani; KD O'Brien, HV Worthington, S Derwent, et al, “A randomized clinical trial to compare the effectiveness of canine lacebacks with reference to …”, in Journal of Orthodontics:

     When the patient was consented to enter the study and registered, a telephone call was made to research assistant

3. (obsolete) To grant; to allow; to assent to.
   • 1644, J[ohn] M[ilton], The Doctrine or Discipline of Divorce: […], 2nd edition, London: [s.n.], OCLC 868004604, book:

     Interpreters […] will not consent it to be a true story.

4. To agree in opinion or sentiment; to be of the same mind; to accord; to concur.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Acts 8:1:

     And Saul was consenting unto his death.

   • 1655, Thomas Fuller, Church-History of Britain

     Flourishing many years before Wyclif, and much consenting with him in judgment.

Usage notes

• This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Synonyms

• (intransitive): acquiesce, agree, approve, assent, concur, yes

Antonyms

• (intransitive): disagree, object, oppose

Related terms

► English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *sent-‎ (1 c, 0 e)

Translations

to express willingness

• Azerbaijani: razılaşmaq (az)
• Bulgarian: съгласявам се (sǎglasjavam se), съгласен съм (sǎglasen sǎm)
• Catalan: consentir (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 承諾 (zh), 承诺 (zh) (chéngnuò), 同意 (zh) (tóngyì)

• Czech: souhlasit (cs)
• Dutch: toestemmen (nl) (in), instemmen (nl) (met)
• Esperanto: konsenti (eo)
• Finnish: hyväksyä (fi), suostua (fi), myöntyä (fi)
• French: consentir (fr), approuver (fr), agréer (fr)
• Georgian: თანხმობა (tanxmoba)
• German: zustimmen (de), einwilligen (de)
• Greek: συναινώ (el) (synainó)
• Hungarian: beleegyezik (hu), hozzájárul (hu), hozzájárulását adja
• Icelandic: samþykkja, fallast á
• Indonesian: setuju (id), rela (id)
• Interlingua: consentir

• Irish: toiligh
• Italian: consentire (it)
• Japanese: 承諾する (ja) (しょうだくする, shōdaku suru), 同意する (ja) (どういする, dōi suru)
• Korean: 승낙하다, 동의하다 (seungnakhada, dong-uihada)
• Latin: consentiō
• Maori: whakaae, tatū
• Occitan: consentir, assentir (oc)
• Polish: zgadzać się (pl), przyzwalać
• Portuguese: consentir (pt), aprovar (pt), deixar (pt)
• Quechua: awñiy
• Russian: соглаша́ться (ru) impf (soglašátʹsja), согласи́ться (ru) pf (soglasítʹsja) (agree), разреша́ть (ru) impf (razrešátʹ), разреши́ть (ru) pf (razrešítʹ) (permit)
• Serbo-Croatian: suglasnost (sh) f
• Spanish: consentir (es)
• Swedish: samtycka (sv), ge sitt samtycke
• Yiddish: באַשטיין‎ (bashteyn)

to cause to sign a consent

• Finnish: hankkia suostumus

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Hebrew: ^{(please verify)} להסכים‎ (le'haskym)

Noun

consent (countable and uncountable, plural consents)

1. Voluntary agreement or permission.
   • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 6, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], OCLC 946730821:

     All men know by experience, there be some parts of our bodies which often without any consent of ours doe stirre, stand, and lye down againe.

2. (obsolete) Unity or agreement of opinion, sentiment, or inclination.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Luke 14:18:

     And they all with one consent began to make excuse.

3. (obsolete) Advice; counsel.

Synonyms

• (voluntary agreement): agreement, approval, assent, consensualness, permission, willingness, yes

Antonyms

• (voluntary agreement): dissent, disagreement, opposition, refusal

Derived terms

• consenter
• consentaneous
• age of consent

Translations

voluntary agreement

• Bulgarian: съгласие (bg) n (sǎglasie), разрешение (bg) n (razrešenie)
• Catalan: consentiment m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 承諾 (zh), 承诺 (zh) (chéngnuò), 同意 (zh) (tóngyì)

• Czech: souhlas (cs) m
• Dutch: toestemming (nl) f, instemming (nl) f
• Esperanto: konsento
• Finnish: suostumus (fi)
• French: consentement (fr) m, approbation (fr) f, agrément (fr)
• German: Zustimmung (de) f, Konsens (de) m, Einverständnis (de) n
• Greek: συναίνεση (el) f (synaínesi)
• Hebrew: הסכמה‎ f (haskama)
• Hungarian: beleegyezés (hu)
• Icelandic: samþykki n
• Indonesian: persetujuan (id)
• Interlingua: consentimento
• Irish: deoin f
• Italian: consenso (it) m

• Japanese: 承諾 (ja) (しょうだく, shōdaku), 同意 (ja) (どうい, dōi)
• Kazakh: келісім (kk) (kelisim)
• Khmer: ការយល់ព្រម (kaa yʊəl prɔɔm)
• Korean: 승낙, 동의 (seungnak, dong-ui)
• Latin: consensiō f
• Macedonian: согласност f (soglasnost)
• Maori: kupu whakaae
• Occitan: consentiment m
• Persian: رضایت‎ (fa) (rezâyat)
• Polish: zgoda (pl) f, pozwolenie (pl) n
• Portuguese: consentimento (pt) m
• Russian: разреше́ние (ru) n (razrešénije) (permission), дозволе́ние (ru) n (dozvolénije) (permission), согла́сие (ru) n (soglásije) (agreement)
• Scottish Gaelic: aonta m
• Spanish: consentimiento (es) m, venia
• Swedish: samtycke (sv) n
• Tamil: சம்மதம் (ta) (cammatam)
• Welsh: cydsyniad m, caniatâd m

Further reading

• consent at OneLook Dictionary Search
• consent in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911.

Anagrams

• nocents

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔ̃.sɑ̃/

Verb

consent

1. third-person singular present indicative of consentir